Last year, the state government had the most educative experience, when, in course of a state-wide school census, it learnt that droves of ghost students existed in school roles, so the school administrators could pocket more money as grant from the Education department. After learning its lesson, the government now plans to move from the classrooms to libraries, to make sure that there are actual books on the shelves.

From May 21 to 25, the state revenue department officials – from tahsildars to deputy collectors – will swarm public libraries in their areas as part of a statewide census. At present, the state has 12,859 libraries, but the government has a strong hunch that many of these exist merely on paper, so that grants can be pocketed.